Peter Stern is not only the Chief Strategy Officer at Time Warner Cable, but he’s also one of the smartest analysts of today’s complex media landscape. So it was a real honor to interview Stern last week in our New York City studio about why cable has a future, why the wired network is critical for wireless to succeed and why he believes that cable at, he says, an average price of 30 cents per hour, is the least expensive form of (legal) entertainment around.

Stern doesn’t pull his punches. He is brutally honest about how the illegal consumption of music has killed the music industry, why content on cable networks is ten times better than that on Netflix, why cable companies generally avoid a la carte pricing and why Network Neutrality legislation is a bad idea. This is essential viewing for anyone who loathes their cable company. It might even persuade you that cable companies like Time Warner Cable aren’t quite the evil empire that many of us love to hate.

This is a two part interview with Peter Stern. Check back tomorrow for his thoughts on the pricing of broadband, on Time Warner Cable’s iPad controversy and what cable companies need to do to regain the trust of their users.